New material from two of Nottingham’s most promising young artists

Nottingham’s very own Jack Peachey aka Gallery 47 has released another hugely emotive track called ‘Mother’s Plan’. It is taken from his forthcoming album ‘Clean’, set for release on 11th November 2016 via AWAL / Bad Production Records. The track premiered on For Folk’s Sake and you can also listen to it on Gallery 47‘s Soundcloud page now.

Following the release of Jack’s sophomore album, ‘All Will Be Well’ in 2014, Gallery 47 set off on tour with Paul Weller across Europe and signed a publishing deal with BMG Berlin shortly after. The album revolved around a badly timed break-up during a period where Jack was facing health problems, forcing him to leave his job. Since then the couple reunited and married, hence the title ‘All Will Be Well’.

‘Clean’ is Jack’s third album, and a departure from his previous release. His latest album mirrors ‘All Will Be Well’ by expressing his new found peace with songs like ‘Never Alone’ and ‘Dream Real’. Jack’s ability to reflect on personal experiences feels similar to the likes of Bob Dylan’s raw writing style mixed with Iron & Wine’s soft, bittersweet sound.

Amongst Jack’s supporters are BBC Radio 2‘s Bob Harris, BBC 6music’s Tom Robinson, BBC Radio Nottingham’s Dean Jackson, The Guardian, Drowned in Sound and Folk Radio to name a few. Gallery 47 has also supported a number of well established acts like Paul Weller, Alice Phoebe Lou, Ian McCulloch and Andrew Montgomery as well as playing on the BBC Introducing stage at T in the Park.

Secondly, Ronika has announced details of sophomore album ‘Lose My Cool’, introduced today with a video for brand new track ‘Principle’. This follows the success of her acclaimed debut ‘Selectadisc’, named an Album of The Year in 2014 by the likes of The Guardian, The Quietus and NME, which saw the Nottingham-born singer and producer pick up support across Radio 1, 6Music and Spotify, and play a series of sold-out shows in addition to dates with Lindstrom and The Human League. Further live and collaborative plans surrounding ‘Lose My Cool’ will follow, whilst ‘Principle’ is available immediately when pre-ordering the album (due to be released on January 20th 2017 via RecordShop, and also available on limited edition vinyl).

In many ways, ‘Selectadisc’ was the soundtrack to losing (and finding) yourself in disco: vividly updating the club-culture of late 70s/early 80s New York or Chicago, but from one bedroom in the arguably less-blinding-lights of inner-city Nottingham. Its follow-up, ‘Lose My Cool’, goes further still. Wider in scope yet also distinctly back-to-your-roots in flavour, ‘Lose My Cool’ follows a wandering groove from disco into hip-hop, R&B, and luxurious modern pop: from Jam & Lewis and Mariah Carey through to Cashmere Cat or Pharrell (and their shared-spaces of funk, gospel, and soulful jams). Equal parts feeling and fantasy, balancing the bravado with the bittersweet, the first taste comes with ‘Principle’; an anthem of female empowerment, as if Janet Jackson rewired ‘Control’ for the WhatsApp generation (and, like much of ‘Lose My Cool’, again entirely self-produced by Ronika).

The broadened horizons on ‘Lose My Cool’ reach beyond just the sound. The record was written following a move from Nottingham to London, via trips to Los Angeles and New York. It’s a dyeing of roots which reach back to when a teenage Ronika enrolled in college to study music, brushing off the boys who were reluctant to recognize a girl producing her own songs. She married her teen dream and fellow-musician at 19, trained as a sound engineer, and balanced early songwriting with jobs teaching disadvantaged kids how to make hip-hop and grime. A debilitating auto-immune disease threatened to sideline all of this, during which Ronika ran her own label and made beats whilst frequently house-bound (and in several more extreme cases, when critically-hospitalized). Yet if ‘Selectadisc’ wore its sense of survival lightly, ‘Lose My Cool’ is buoyed by recovery: Ronika went into full remission the very month her debut was released, the liberating effect of which perhaps influenced a follow-up which often feels more playful and care-free, but still seeks a transformative twist on dark times.

The album title itself is lifted from the song ‘Lose My Cool’, whose simmering, TLC-inspired swing describes an attempt to navigate the mountains of the text-world using only Emojis as a compass. The title’s significance is ultimately, though, one of self-respect; it’s those possibilities which open up when you choose to look, dance or work without being defined by others’ expectations. ‘Lose My Cool’ is an album in which the things that matter never truly go out of fashion.